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Starc ready for Abu Dhabi decider

Australia's pace weapon ready to go in second Test but visitors not fooled by green pitch

Mitchell Starc has declared himself fighting fit for the second Test against Pakistan, with the Australian pacemen to take a leaf out of Mohammad Abbas' playbook for the series finale in Abu Dhabi.

Starc's big first-innings workload in punishing conditions in the drawn first Test following a long layoff due to injury prompted the usual concern, but the left-armer said he was feeling fresh two days out from the series decider.

'Proud' Langer praises Khawaja, looks towards second Test


Along with pace partner Peter Siddle and fellow quicks Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett, Starc let rip in the nets during the squad's main training run ahead of the second Test where reverse swing is again expected to be a major factor.

Abbas was the most effective bowler in Dubai with seven wickets for the match including a devastating haul of 3-0 in eight balls having earlier been written off by the likes of Fox Cricket commentator Mark Waugh for his lack of pace.

Starc says Australia have taken note of the wiry paceman's methods, and the fields set by Pakistan.

"(We were) taking notice of some of their field placements, particularly Abbas when he was getting that ball to reverse," Starc told cricket.com.au.

"He's very consistent and he bowled really well in the first innings, was pretty successful and again in the second innings.

"Obviously he's not very fast but he's very consistent in where he was putting the ball and challenging our defence all the time.

"Some of the fields they had to the quicks when it was reversing we took notice of. He was very consistent and patient over where he was bowling and waited for the batsmen to make errors.

"We were pretty good for the most part, we stuck to our plans (but) it's definitely something we can take out of the way he approached his fast bowling."

While Abbas was the game's standout quick, Starc was pleased with how he and Siddle toiled in Pakistan's first innings.

Typically deployed as a strike weapon, Starc has accepted his usual attacking instincts won't cut it in the Middle East.

"From a fast bowling point of view, we knew we couldn't bowl like we would in Australia – we had to take the ego out of it and the aggressiveness with our bowling out of it, really play a patient and persistence game," Starc explained.

"Right from the start of the tour I knew I had to change my role a little bit in terms of the way I go about my bowling, aggressive lines and lengths and try to blast guys out, you can't really do that here on wickets that are so low and have no bounce.

Starc's focus on stumps and success over sledging

"I had to be a bit more economical, build pressure not try to take wickets all the time, just really know when to attack and when to build pressure from one end.

"No doubt that will be the same for the fast bowlers in this Test match."

Having toiled on a Dubai pitch almost entirely bereft of greenery, the Australians were surprised to find a well-grassed wicket at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.

Recent history would suggest the track will be far from the green seamer Australian Test sides have struggled on in recent Ashes series abroad and it's expected that curators will give the Abu Dhabi track a significant haircut ahead of the first ball on Tuesday.

"It might be completely different tomorrow when they cut the grass off," Starc continued. "If we were playing on it today, the fast bowlers would be pretty happy with the covering of grass.

"A lot of us expect that grass to be gone by tomorrow and probably even less come game day.

"We're ready for whatever they throw at us and will try to back up from a good fight in that first Test."

Qantas Tour of the UAE

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

Pakistan Test squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez

Oct 7-11: First Test, drawn

Oct 16-20: Second Test, Abu Dhabi